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M Ray Hunley   Netflix DVD   03 July 2005 Fritz Lang's portrait of a serial killer. Interesting to see how little the portrayal of forensic investigation techniques in film has evolved since 1931. We've gotten much better at scripting endings, though.

Mambo Kings A Bennett   Hollywood Video VHS - !Tonya Stayed Awake!   04 June 2004 When you've made a movie with Antonio Banderas and Armand Assante in which you have to lose one of them? Antonio Banderas? Totally the wrong choice, hermano.

Man on Fire Steven Krise   My basement   01 May 2005 The interesting cinematography and gratuitous violence made this predictable film watchable.

Man's Favorite Sport Kristin Schrock   VHS   01 February 2003 This is my favorite Rock Hudson movie, and I was so excited to hear that it was available at the Hollywood Video (since AMC has stopped playing classic movies, B*stards!). Roger Willoughby (Rock Hudson) is a fishing expert who has never been fishing. Abigail (Paula Prentiss) is a PR exec who signs him up for a fishing contest. Wackiness ensues. No, really, it does. A romantic comedy that actually works (for me), but mostly because Rock Hudson spends most of the movie grumpy. Give me a grumpy man, and I'm yours.

Marat/Sade Tony Pisarenkov   DVD at home   01 March 2008 I suppose it takes the Royal Shakespeare Company to peddle sixties' counterculture as delivered by insane asylum inmates in early XIX-century France.

March of the Penguins Tony Pisarenkov   AFI Silver Theatre, Silver Spring, MD   23 July 2005 A well-made documentary on what has to be one of the most bizzarre phenomena in the animal kingdom -- the breeding process of the Emperor Penguins. Morgan Freeman's voiceover, added for the English-language markets no doubt, is a little pompous for its own good, but doesn't ruin the film.

Maria Full of Grace Tony Pisarenkov   Landmark Theatre, Bethesda, MD   03 August 2004 A simple but not simple-minded film about Colombian drug mules, the ugly truth of their trade and their misadventures in New York after an operation goes bad. Powerful in its directness.

Maria Full of Grace Jennifer Strang   Landmark Bethesda Row   03 August 2004 Disturbing portrayal of three young women who are hired as "drug mules" to deliver drugs from Columbia to New York. Definitely a side of the drug trade that is rarely seen. Highly recommended.

Maria Full of Grace Steve Gadd   DVD   30 May 2005 Fed up with her job de-thorning roses, Maria decides to take a chance and smuggle 62 packets of cocaine in her stomach.

Mask of Death Ray Hunley   One of the minor HBOs   02 August 2005 Good grief. Writing a review would mean I'd have to relive the experience. Here's what the IMDB has to say.

Masked and Anonymous Kristin Schrock   Local Art Theatre   19 October 2003 Everyone and their brother was in this movie. Pick an actor? Jeff Bridges--check. Mickey Rourke--Yup. Chris Penn, Christian Slater, Jessica Lange (perhaps on screen for the first time with her King Kong co-star), Giovanni Ribisi, Luke Wilson, Angela Bassett, Val Kilmer, John Goodman, with Bob Dylan in the lead. Where to begin? It's war torn America and John Goodman and Jessica Lange are fixing to put on a benefit concert. The movie felt like an allegory, a retelling of some classic story, but I am not able to connect the dots. So it could just be a bunch of speechifying about music and revolution and war. Basically, war is bad m'kay? With some serious third act problems, this one is probably just for the Bob Dylan fans.

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World A Bennett   Milford Giant Cineplex-my brother was late. Again.   15 November 2003 Greatly enjoyable. Oscar-calibur effects (so seamless they hardly seem like effects), costuming, and set dressing. Russell Crowe again proves how easily he can sway men to die for him and whichever cause he is representing in his current film. The script, rather than using the tried-and-true inverted checkmark of plot/action culminating in climax and denoument, instead hearkens back to "ye olde" cinema serials (and weekly dramatic television) where too much progression can hurt in the long runs for which they were/are destined. Characters neither learn, nor change, nor experience (or give viewers) catharsis. It is this stasis only that keeps the film from earning a higher rating. However, there is still satisfaction to be had in such a solid entry of characters you enjoy being around, and places you've never had the chance to visit, lives you'll never live. Obviously set up for a potential run of sequels (much like those same cinema serials of old), you'll not hear me complaning. There's always something to be said for B+-level papers handled so well instructors feel compelled to award them the full A. And let's not even get into what a relief it can be to find an entertaining film amongst the dren and flotsam drifting in the current climate.

Masterpiece Theatre: Dr. Zhivago A Bennett   TiVo'd in two parts from Kentucky PBS   10 November 2003 Attempting to explain (to Westerners) the Russian mind, culture and political climate at the early part of the last century is no easy task--even given four hours. This adaptation of the novel chose to focus heavily on the fleshly aspects of the adulterous tale--no doubt as they best showcased the lovely-as-a-vision Keira Knightly.

Masterpiece Theatre: Henry VIII (2004) A Bennett   TiVo'd from PBS in two parts   15 January 2006 Let’s be fair, Henry VIII did more than just kill off or otherwise dispose of his six wives. After all, there were those wars, troubles with France, and that whole Papist/Reformer thing that changed England forever. The annexation of Wales, for instance. But of course people mostly care about the wives. Part I gave us an Anne Boleyn more scheming than any version of her I have seen to date (unlike Anne of a Thousand Days, for example), making her transformation from schemer to consort to queen to whacked out super-jealous wife more than a little disappointing. Part II gave us the bulk of the other wives, and the sad realization that this version of Henry’s story wanted to show us that Henry JUST WANTED TO BE LOVED. By hyper-condensing Henry’s reign of 38 years into three hours and the single quest for a viable male heir, we ALL lose. Which is a pity, because Ray Winstone as Henry really could have made something memorable with his performance. (NOTE: It was weird to watch an older Helena Bonham Carter once of young Lady Jane 9-day reign fame to get beheaded here as a forerunner queen to Jane herself. Interestingly enough, Jane was born the same year Anne was separated from her head.)

Matchstick Men Mike Gadd   Some backwoods theater in Slidel, MS   19 September 2003 Killing time before flying home, this was the best choice out of 4. Nick Cage is back on his game as a con man with a severe case of OCD. Plenty of facial tics and Slingblade-like grunts. What was amusing for me is that some of the stuff they had him doing as a result of his OCD seemed perfectly normal to me.

Matchstick Men Steve Gadd   Reston Town Center   26 September 2003 Nicolas Cage is great as a nut, but the first hour was slow going. Does it really take that long to establish the character of a psycho con artist (lots of blinking) and an annoying daughter (lots of whining)? Things improved once the story got going.

Matrix: Revolutions Kristin Schrock   Showcase Cinemas   11 November 2003 I worked hard to like this movie. I was probably one of the few that enjoyed the 2nd movie. And then the Wachowski Brothers forgot the simple rule of story: it's about the characters, stupid. Morpheus and Trinity get relegated to the background--that offense is hard to forgive. Even Neo seems secondary. I never thought I'd say this, but the Wachowski's probably could've taken a few cues from George Lucas in Return of the Jedi (ewoks notwithstanding). There is not much fun to be had, here, but I will say this: Hugo Weaving is, as always, excellent and Gina Torres is very pretty.

Me & Mrs. Jones A Bennett   TiVo'd from Masterpiece Theatre   17 March 2004 Still a bit fuzzy on what made this a 'masterpiece'. Probably not a good sign my favorite character barely spoke. Sorry, PBS--you're just going to have to work pretty hard to get me to cheer for an adultery-based love affair.

Mean Creek Ray Hunley   Netflix DVD   24 September 2005 Punks plot prank on porker, problems pop up, punks pule plaintively.

Meet the Fockers Steve Gadd   DVD   29 May 2005 Just about what you would expect.

Meet the Parents Julie Gephart   Basic cable   22 December 2003 As I’ve said, I’m not too fond of the screwball comedies where everything goes wrong. At least no real harm came to the cat.

Memento Steven Krise   My basement   20 September 2002 Ingenius film that helps the audience experience the protagonist's ailment by sequencing the vignettes in reverse chronological order. Joe Pantoliano shows up again as a slick manipulative morally ambiguous character. The question, though, is whether he's lying or not. This review does nothing to capture the essence of the movie.

Men in Black Julie Gephart   Basic cable   20 March 2004 I’d almost forgotten what a fun movie this was. Clunky in places, but really a clever idea.

Men in Black 2 Kristin Schrock   DVD (at my Brother's house)   30 November 2002 This was the weekend that I was forced to watch movies that I thought would be awful but turned out to be not so bad. I think Alicia thought this movie to be the dren of all dren. It was mindless, funny in some parts. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones actually do go along way to make crap watchable.

Men in Black 2 Mike Gadd   DVD at home   13 January 2003 Bought this for the kids at Christmas because they liked it so much at the theater. The first time I saw it I went in with extremely low expectations and it met every one. The first movie is one of my favorites, this one was just forgettable. Still, watching it a second time I found myself chuckling and almost enjoying it. Maybe it's not as bad as I thought. Strange seeing Johnny Knoxville not getting pegged with paintballs. Our favorite character is the guy who keeps getting his head blown off and seeing it grow back on.

Men With Brooms A Bennett   Hollywood Video Rental DVD   18 January 2003 Perhaps the only film ever based on the sport of curling, I know it had big things to say about beavers--I just never did figure out what it was. I can't even really review this film, as it was written, directed and acted by the Mountie from due South and I've a bit of a blind spot where that's concerned. I think the script probably should have gone through maybe two more drafts.

Men With Brooms Kristin Schrock   DVD   18 January 2003 I watched a lot of the women's curling during the last Olympics and although I sort of grasped the concept of the game, I could never figure out how scoring worked. This movie with all of its explanation of the game did not explain the scoring. Although it's always nice to see Paul Gross in anything, the highlight of this movie was really the bloopers they showed during the closing credits.

Metropolis (2001) Ray Hunley   Netflix DVD   08 August 2005 This anime "re-imagining" of Fritz Lang's boring classic involves a young boy and a huge-eyed android girl.

Miami Vice: The Pilot Mike Gadd   home video   24 May 2004 Watched this after a recent visit to Miami looking for something familiar. There were too many turned up collars and half shirts to notice anything.

Michael Clayton Steve Gadd   Flexplay DVD   04 April 2009 Seven stars for the movie, which was nothing less or more than expected. And a 9.5 for the Flexplay DVD format. For the price of a rental, you get a pristine unscratched disc and two days to watch it, with nothing to return. The only downside is the barebones menu with no extras.

Michael Collins (1996) A Bennett   TiVo'd from (?) FOX in the wee smalls   10 March 2004 Now and I was led to believe (for many years, aye) that Julia Roberts' part in this film was nothin' but a wee cameo. Not likely! The lone female in the cast (lessen you count your Johnathon Rhys-Meyers), she even sings (her voice being a mark above adequate). As for the film itself, a 'version' of the life of the big fella, it must be confessed that I know little more about the Troubles than did I at the start of the two-hours and thirty minutes (though 'tis no fault of Mr. Liam Neeson's). Perhaps the uncut version would tell a fuller tale. Then again, perhaps 'tis time to pick up a book and educate meself. Dead at thirty-one he was, and what a legacy, his.

Midnight Cowboy Tony Pisarenkov   DVD   18 January 2003 A brilliant early example of Dustin Hoffman's genius, but even beyond that, despite a relative absence of depth and a lack of concern (admittedly intentional) with truly timeless themes, the film manages to keep your interest, partly due to a successful effort to avoid the obvious. Oh, did I mention Dustin Hoffman is brilliant?

Millenium Julie Gephart   Mysteriously free HBO   24 March 2003 Classic! When my dad is in town, that means we have to watch a movie starring a former Charlie's Angel. This gem has Cheryl Ladd as a time traveler from a thousand years in the future who comes back in time to prevent Kris Kristofferson from discovering some technology she left behind during a mission. The best part is that, when she has screwed something up in the past, the result is a "time quake" in the future, wherein the camera shakes around a little. "Time Quake!" everyone yells, as they hang on to something.

Miller's Crossing Ray Hunley   Netflix DVD   01 April 2005 The Coen Brothers' gangland noir. Better than The Ladykillers and The Hudsucker Proxy, worse than Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski.

Million Dollar Baby Kristin Schrock   Kenwood Theatre   20 February 2005 What I've noticed about Clint Eastwood as a director is that he's relaxed. He lets his story do the work for him. This is not the best approach when the story isn't all that--but when the story's good, he just lets it unfold. Million Dollar Baby is good. Well developed characters, solid (and surprising) story. Well done.

Million Dollar Baby Steve Gadd   DVD   19 August 2005 We expected more from this mega-hit, which could be edited down to a passable hourlong TV drama. The bad characters were just over the top, and the good ones were flawless and overly interesting: the scrappy boxer, the Yeats-reading trainer with a theology hobby and an unresolved missing daughter drama, and Morgan Freeman, the retired fighter, gym janitor, and source of goofy Zen boxing wisdom voiceovers.

Minority Report Steve Gadd   DVD at home   25 February 2003 Cool movie, great effects, good story. If there is any Philip K. Dick material out there that has not yet been converted to film, let's have it!

Minority Report Mike Gadd   dvd rental   01 June 2003 A full movie experience. Fun to watch and certainly one to get the brain juices working. There's issues with the whole idea of changing the future after seeing what's coming. Short Tom Cruise sees something bad that's going to happen 36 hours into his future so he runs around trying to stop it from occuring. He's told that he has kicked off a series of events that will lead to this event. Now, if he hadn't seen what the future held then he wouldn't have been running around trying to stop it. Would it have still happened? Who knows. I really enjoyed the eye scanning spiders.

Miracle Mike Gadd   $2 theater with the Jr. High   04 April 2004 One of the best sports movies I've seen. Simple story done well. I appreciated the realistic hockey action.

Misery Jeff Gadd   DVD   27 January 2003 A very creepy movie of a #1 fan of a writer,she really likes. Never finish watching the movie till now. I don't know why I watch it all anyway. Makes me GLAD I don't have a #1 fan!!!

Misery Mike Gadd   TBS or something like it   29 August 2003 An excellent example of how fine acting can carry a simple story. Bates and Caan do an incredible job. I had to turn the channel for the hobbling scene. Once was enough.

Miss Congeniality Julie Gephart   Mysteriously free HBO   06 January 2003 More fun after we got out of bumbling cop-world and into pageant-world. There were typically lame and stilted moments like in every Big Comedy, but there were fun parts too. If I have to watch a comedy, I'm all for Sandra Bullock being in it.

Miss Rose White A Bennett   Owned VHS   12 April 2003 Yes, again, me with the WWII. And why not? There's drama for you, there's horror and immediacy, and, I don't know--hurt/comfort? Angst? Oppressed people groups? Everything I needs me in a moving picture. From the play "A Shyana Meidel" (I probably mis-spelled that). Perhaps a bit talky, but the writing is good and the acting (particularly Amanda Plummer) is affecting enough to still grab me by the guts after multiple viewings. Rose White, American, tries to deal with her past as Polish immigrint Raizel Weiss, when her sister (whom she has not seen for 17 years), who was in a camp comes to New York five years after the war is over and disrupts Rose's carefully created world.

Monkey Business Julie Gephart   Basic cable   24 July 2003 I should have been warned off by ABennett, but I had to try it for myself, and I was mightily bored. I never did see the Meg Ryan connection, and I am slowly developing a huge dislike for Cary Grant based on that stupid affected accent of the type some people tend to use in old movies. That is not a real accent from anywhere! Just stop it!

Monkey Business (1952) A Bennett   TiVo'd from AMC   08 July 2003 Not particularly enjoyable. I hesitate to criticize Cary Grant, Charles Coburn and Ginger Rogers, but there you go. Some oldies take a youth elixir--it ain't quite Cocoon, but it does have (for those who enjoy such things) Marilyn Monroe, whose hiring her boss (Coburn) defends, stating, "anybody can type". Also, everything Meg Ryan has ever done is just a cut-rate Ginger Rogers rip-off. Why hasn't anyone else noticed? Not that I begrudge her for stealing from a true artist.

Monsoon Wedding A Bennett   Hollywood Video DVD Rental   08 February 2003 Where was all the rain? Where? I loved the father/uncle in this picture by the end. I do believe the DVD-viewing experience would be greatly enhanced if it included even the briefest documentary on traditional Indian weddings, as this was the first Indian film I have ever watched, and I am all but ignorant of their culture.

Monsoon Wedding Kristin Schrock   DVD   08 February 2003 I thought this was going to be a comedy. It wasn't. At all. The story of three people in India in the midst of wedding preparation of an arranged marriage. Some angst. Some marigold eating. Good music. Although the white subtitles were difficult to read at times.

Monster Steve Gadd   Reston Town Center   18 January 2004 Heavy, well-performed based-on-a-true story of a disturbed prostitute who goes from turning tricks to killing and robbing johns. It pays better, after all.

Monster Tony Pisarenkov   The Avalon, Washington, DC   11 February 2004 Based on a true story of Aileen Wuornos, a Florida prostitute turned serial killer. Very well made and spectacularly acted, with an uncharacteristic but brilliant performance by Charlize Theron, who more than deserves the Oscar nomination. Amazingly enough, however, I managed to be bored through the first two thirds of the film.

Monster Ray Hunley   Netflix DVD   23 April 2005 Charlize Theron is as good as advertised. Her Wuornos is made a little more sympathetic, I think, than the reality, but what a life to have had to live.

Monster's Ball Steve Gadd   DVD at home   19 November 2002 Small-town story about a halfhearted bigot cop who overcomes his prejudice following an encounter with a desperate and beautiful Halle Berry. There are some unremarkable plot twists and a seemingly unending sex scene, cut in theaters to get an R rating but restored to full glory for the DVD. Apparently the placement of odd liquor bottles and pieces of furniture to block your view of extremeties is supposed to be enough to convince you that this is not porn. The great acting does help to allay one's disappointment at the "lust conquers all" theme.

Motel Hell Tony Pisarenkov   DVD at Chad & Suzanne's   28 June 2003 One star for Nina Axelrod in a wet t-shirt

Mr and Mrs Smith Steven Krise   My Basement   06 August 2006 I rated this as highly as I did based solely on the number of scenes containing the suggestion of Angelina Jolie's tits...yeah, and that Brad Pitt is a dreamy fellow.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith Steve Gadd   Countryside Megaplex   22 July 2005 The only movie cliche missing was the one with the hero hanging over a chasm by a little root.

Mr. Deeds Steve Gadd   In-flight movie, Delta 73   01 December 2002 Adam Sandler at his unfunniest. Remember the commercial with the butler banging on his foot, and the guy driving the Corvette into a tree? Those were the funny bits.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington A Bennett   VHS Rental Hollywood Video   20 November 2002 Most uses of the term "graft" in a film ever. It was like they couldn't spring for the rights to another word that meant the same thing. Film does not even pretend to having a plot beyond the shallow waters of chest-thumping patriotism that it glorifies. Strangely, for all that, still not too bad an outing. With so many Capra-ites in the cast, more than a little like an "It's A Wonderful Life" reunion.

Mrs. Miniver (1942) A Bennett   Hollywood Video Rental VHS   13 February 2003 An interesting look at the propaganda machine in Hollywood during WWII. And, not a bad film to boot. If I was ever staring down an escaped German flyer in my British kitchen, I'd want Greer Garson right there with me--that is, if Xena (always a first choice in any situation) were busy elsewhere and couldn't make it. Per Tonya, the eldest Miniver child's name (Vin) is said over 90 times in this film. How's that for partiality?

Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle Julie Gephart   Basic cable   28 May 2003 Yes, it was another one of THOSE movies. You know, the kind where you go in thinking, "This was an interesting woman. I could stand to know more about her." And then two and a half hours later, you are so depressed that you can barely muster the will to stand up? Yeah, one of those. Perhaps someday Kristin can write me a treatise entitled "Why some people actually enjoy depressing movies," because I just don't get it.

Munich Tony Pisarenkov   Cinema Arts Theatre, Fairfax, VA   14 January 2006 Krauthammer totally missed the point. For my money, the depiction of the three-way conflict between the imperative for saftey and security, the desire for revenge, and the need to remain civilized human beings who abhor violence that is tearing apart the Israeli society was right on. And it's a great piece of filmmaking regardless of your politics.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding A Bennett   Kentucky Great Escape 18 Movie House   30 August 2002 I cannot imagine a single, living person that I would enjoy spending time with not smiling and laughing repeatedly while watching this film.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding Kristin Schrock   Theatre   04 September 2002 A definite crowd pleaser. It was only when I started to think about it, that the movie started to bother me--happy endings and all that. But that's just me. I'm a cold-cold hearted person. I'm sure you'll love it.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding Steve Gadd   Reston Multiplex Cinemas   26 October 2002 As promised, charming and funny and impossible not to enjoy.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding Steve Gadd   DVD   10 July 2003 Still enjoyable on second viewing.

My Big Fat Greek Weeding Mike Gadd   Movie Theater   15 September 2002 Delightful movie. Held up to all expectations. The theater was packed for a 4:00 show. I've never seen that for a movie that's been out this long. I'd recommend this movie to anyone who'd consider it.

My Brilliant Career Julie Gephart   Basic cable   27 November 2003 A farmer’s daughter in Australia bemoans the fact that not only is she poor, but she is also ugly, and nobody will ever love her. Then she goes to live with some rich relations, where she falls in love with a handsome rich man who also falls in love with her and proposes marriage. Needless to say, this makes her… still very unhappy? She spent the whole movie trying to make sure this man fell in love with her, only to then confess that she never wanted to get married because somehow that would prevent her from being a writer. Whatever. I’ve often mocked movies that represent “ugly girl” as “obviously attractive girl in some bad hair and glasses,” but now I’ve come to understand how that device is preferable to the discomfort of watching a genuinely ugly actress get told over and over again how ugly she is.

Mystery, Alaska A Bennett   Hollywood Video DVD   08 October 2003 Every once in a while an actor, on the cusp (or sometimes in the middle) of Big Fame makes a small movie. These movies tend to either be spoiled by the actor's Presence (as Winona Ryder admits Little Women was by hers) or tend to spoil from viewer's expectations, as happens with Hugh Grant in The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill, etc. or Ewan MacGregor in Little Voice or Brassed Off--films where Big Fame takes Small Parts in Ensemble Drama. Like it or not, Big Fame tells us, as viewers, where to invest and where to focus. In these cases (let us call this, "Big Fame meets Small Film"), that rule does not usualy apply, which can lead to confusion and disappointment.

Mystery, Alaska (cont'd) A Bennett   Hollywood Video DVD   08 October 2003 Sometime between 97's L.A. Confidential and 00's The Insider & Gladiator, Russell Crowe made this film. In truth, it would mark the last time he would play a normal guy: not an iconic genius, not a famous whistle blower, not the baddest Roman general/imprisoned gladiator to ever live. No, he's just a guy from Alaska, the local sherriff who likes (along with just about everyone else in town) to play hockey. Probably, without question, this is my favorite Russell Crowe. In this BFmSF scenario, there's lots of characters, lots of familiar faces. It's not a great film. It could have been greater if it had been filmed less studio glossily (its subject matter doesn't really deserve big studio treatment), and more like an indepedent film. Some scenes are handled this way, and the change in immediacy is noticeable and effective. Points for the only film where Crowe actually seems well-matched with his female partner, as both an actor and romantic interest. Points for making me believe the kids were his. Points for Burt Reynolds showing he can act (and pretty well, too). Negative points for someone else being brought on to tinker with David E. Kelly's script (whose third act was doubtless better than the one I suspicion was written in).

Mystic River Steve Gadd   Reston Town Center   23 January 2004 Clint Eastwood directs a good story about three Boston kids whose lives cross again years later. Despite some unnecessary flourishes and plot problems, the story keeps your attention and the star performances are watchable.

Mystic River Jaqi Ross   Hollywood video rental   12 September 2004 Three childhood friends (Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon) are reunited in Boston when Penn's daughter is murdered. Robbins was molested as a boy and still shows the scars of it. On the night of the murder he arrives home covered with blood. He tells his wife that he killed a mugger... but there's nothing in the paper the next few days. Penn is desperate to find the killer and Bacon plays a member of the Boston police who tries to figure out what happened. Slow pace and moody cinematography make this film.